Looking at
Once the user has placed all the items, such as tools, he wishes into the lock box 10, he can then disengage the locking support arms 28, allowing him to then pull onto the lid 11, which is hingedly connected to the top of the back panel 18, until it bottoms out onto the top of the front panel 12, right side panel 14, left side panel 16, and back panel 18. Then the user moves the slide 27, which is located within the finger slot 13 found on the front of the lid 11 of the lock box 10, to its extreme left position, placing the locking mechanism 26 of the box 10 into a locking configuration. Finally, the user places a key into the keyhole 29 and pushes and then rotates the key tumbler 30 of the puck lock 32 until the puck lock 32 is activated, preventing the locking mechanism 26 from disengaging the front panel 12 of the lock box 10. The lock box 10 is now locked, preventing anyone from lifting the lid 11 and accessing the items contained therein.
When the lock box 10 is in this closed configuration as shown in
Finally, the box 10 also includes an electrical access cover 42 that can be flipped out of the way so that an electrical cord can pass through it, providing power for any equipment that is located within the box 10. The puck lock may be the same as but is not limited to any conventional puck lock as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,821 issued to Randel. The puck lock may also be any type of padlock that does not have an exposed U-shaped shackle. Preferably, the puck lock 32 including its key tumbler 30 is protected by hardened steel so that a thief cannot drill into the puck lock 32 and disable it. This greatly enhances the overall security of the box 10.
Referring now to
Once this open configuration of the locking mechanism 26 has been achieved, then the user places his hand within the finger slot 13 located at the front face of the lid 11 and pulls upward, opening the lid 11. It should be noted that the user does not need to remove the puck lock 32 from the box 10 to achieve a locking mechanism 26 that is in the open configuration. This prevents the user from pinching their fingers when taking the puck lock 32 off the box 10 and from potentially losing the puck lock 32. Now, the user can place items into or take items out of the box 10 with the lid 11 open.
Conversely, the closed configuration is achieved in the following manner. First, the user disengages the locking support arms 28. Then he places his hand within the finger slot 13 located at the front face of the lid 11 and pulls downward until the lid 11 bottoms out on the front 12, back 18, right side 14, and left side 16 panels. Then the user moves the slide 27 to its extreme left position where the L-shaped member 58 of the locking bar 44 passes through a slot 64 found on the access cover 48 located between the interior of the box 10 and the rear face 66 of the puck lock 32 until the L-shaped member 58 is seated within a slot 68 found on the rear face 66 of the puck lock 32 and is aligned with the path of the shank 54 of the puck lock 32. At the same time, the hooks 60 of the locking bar 44 pass through the eye portions 62 of the flanges 50 as shown in
The attachment of the locking bar 44 and slide 27 to the lid 11 of the lock box 10 is achieved in the following manner. First, a bolster plate 82 is provided with a slot 84 at one end. Three identical guide brackets 46 are welded to the underside of the lid 11. The first bracket 46 is located in the middle of the bolster plate 82 and the second and third brackets 46 are found equidistant from first bracket 46. The bracket is a U-shaped channel that has a first set of holes 86 that are in alignment with each other and a second set of holes 88 that are in alignment with each other. The first sets of holes 86 of each bracket 46 are also in alignment, as are the second sets 88 of holes. The main shaft 90 of the locking bar 44 is inserted through the first set of holes 86 of all three brackets 46. Next, each of the three hook portions 60 are welded onto the main shaft 90 adjacent to a bracket 46 such that each is capable of passing through the second set of holes 88 of that bracket 46. Then a connecting arm 92 is passed through the slot 84 of the bolster plate 82 and welded onto the main shaft 90 of the locking bar 44. Finally, the first leg 94 of the L-shaped member is welded to the end of the main shaft 90 of the locking bar 44 such that its second leg 96 with the hole 56 in it will remain parallel with the three hook portions 60 when the locking bar 44 is moved laterally. The subassembly of the locking bar 44 to the bolster plate 82 is now complete.
This subassembly is maneuvered such that the free end of the connecting arm 92 can extend through a slot (not shown) found within the finger slot 13 of the lid 11. The bolster plate 82 is then when welded into place on the lid 11. At this point, the slide 27 is attached to the connecting arm 92 by a pin connection (not shown). From this time forward, any movement of the slide 27 is transferred to the connecting arm 92, and to the locking bar 44. The slot on the lid is configured to match the slot 84 found on the bolster plate 82. Together they make sure that the proper sliding distance is allowed for effectuating the locking and unlocking configurations of the locking mechanism 26. Hence, the slide 27 serves as an actuator that causes the locking bar 44 to achieve both the locking and unlocking configurations. The last step in completing the assembly of the locking mechanism 26 is to weld the three identical flanges 50 to the top portion of the interior surface of the front panel 12 such that they will align with the guide brackets 46 when the lid 11 of the box 10 is closed. Preferably, the eye portions 62 of the flanges 50 will be located between the ears 98 of the bracket 46 and must be in alignment with the second set of holes 88 of the bracket 46 so that the hook portion 60 of the locking bar 44 can pass through all three apertures. This arrangement ensures that each bracket 46 and flange 50 combination will provide three points of locking contact between the lid 11 and front panel 12 of the box 10. This also means that there are nine points of contact in total. This arrangement is preferred as it ensures that the rigidity of the locking mechanism 26 is sufficient to prevent someone from prying open the lock box 10.
As can be seen, this embodiment provides a lock box 10 that does not have any movable components of the locking mechanism 26 attached to any panel other than the lid, resulting in easy access to its interior. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the spirit and scope of this invention could be achieved with other types of mechanisms including those that operate in a similar manner but only vary the number and position of hooks, brackets, and flanges. Also, the actuator used in the preferred embodiment was a mechanical slide. However, other actuators that are mechanical, electrical, magnetic, or electromechanical are also contemplated. For example, the actuator could be a solenoid that can be activated remotely by the user to create movement of the locking bar or it could be a spring, which biases the locking bar to move. Therefore, the spirit and scope of this invention should be interpreted in view of the attached claims.
The present application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/479,906 and claims priority thereof. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/479,906 is a Continuation in Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/404,349, filed on Apr. 14, 2006, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11479906 | Jun 2006 | US |
Child | 11499600 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11404349 | Apr 2006 | US |
Child | 11479906 | US |